Detachable book support for chairs



1948- w. T. CLAWSON DETAGHABLE BOOK SUPPQRT FOR CHAIRS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed on. 21, 1946 FIG-l.

WILLIAM T. GLAWSON 0ct..26, 1948. w. T. CLAWSON DETACHABLE BOOK SUPPORTFOR CHAIRS Z'SheetQ-Sheet 2' WSON.

Filed 001;. 21, 1946 WILLIAM T. OLA

Patented Qct. 26, 1%48 STTES 'I'E'i QHCE Claims.

This invention relates to an attachable and detachable book supportadapted to be associated with opera, chairs, auditorium chairs, and thelike, and in which means are provided for detachably securing an arm forwriting or support purposes onto the conventional arm of an opera chair,and the like.

Many times it is necessary, due to crowded conditions in school, to holdclasses in auditoriums and assembly halls where the chairs are notsuitable for the taking of notes since the students have no place onwhich to support their note books. By providing a support which can bequickly attached to or detached from an arm of an opera chair, theseopera chairs can be thus equipped to convert an auditorium into a classroom.

It is an object of this invention to provide means attachable to an armof an opera chair and the like, whereby a book support and the like canbe provided, and said attached arm being jointed, if desired, so thatthe forward end can be adjusted at any desired angle; or, if desired, inorder to permit ingress and egress between the seats, the forward end ofthe support can be raised to vertical position or slightly off-centeredposition, so that it will stay in this raised position while persons aremoving along the aisles between the seats, and which can be foldeddownwardly to occupy a substantially horizontal position with relationto the other portion of the support, which is attached to the arm of theopera chair.

Some of the objects of this invention having been stated, other objectswill appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a top plan view of a portion of an opera chair, and showingmy invention attached thereto;

Figure 2 is a side elevation looking from the lower side of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional View taken along the line 3-3 in Figure1;

Figure 4 is a sectional View taken along the line 44 in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 55 in Figure2.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral I0 indicatesone of the two side frames of an opera chair which usually has a seat Hpivoted as at 52 and folding to vertical position or to horizontalposition when it is to be occupied. These opera chair frames ill havesecured thereto suitable brackets l3 to which are secured a back I4. Ontop of the frames it) are usually secured a conventional arm [6 to thuscomplete the opera chair. In order to convert this opera chair into astudent chair having a book support, I provide a board-like memberattachable thereto, and which can be all in one piece or made in twosections and pivoted together if desired. In the present form of theinvention, I provide a board member 20 which can be of wood, plastic,aluminum, or any other suitable material, This member 20 has,preferably, a felt or other suitable pad 25 secured to the lower sidethereof to rest against the upper surface of the arm It. To the rear endof the member 2!) is secured a bracket 22 which has two forwardlyprojecting side lugs 23 and 24, and a lower lug 25, fitting beneath therear end of the arm 46. This member 20 also has secured to the lowerside thereof, by any suitable means, such as screws 21, an inverted U-shaped bracket 28, which has downwardly and inwardly projecting springarm portions 29 and 29, which are adapted to fit on opposed sides of thearm It, to clampingly engage the arm and to hold the member 28 onto thearm in a rigid manner and yet which is detachable therefrom when upwardpressure is applied to member 20.

The member 20 can extend forwardly to provide a broad portion forsupporting a writing pad, book, and the like, but where this detachablearm member is to be secured to opera chairs which do not have a wideaisle therebetween, it is preferable to make the support in twosections, and in whichl provide the forward portion 30 thereof separateand hinged to the portion 20 by means of suitable hinges 3| and 3|,which can swing upwardly and which are imbedded flush with the uppersurface of the portions 28 and 30, and the proximate ends of theportions of the members 26 and 30 serve as a stop for the two portionsto hold them in horizontal position. If desired, an additional stop andsupport can be provided in the form of an L-shaped bracket 32 secured tothe lower surface of the portion 20 by means of suitable screws 33, andthe downwardly projecting legs of L-shaped member 32 is adapted to becontacted by a screw 34 threadably mounted in the downturned leg ofanother L-shaped bracket 35 secured to the lower surface of member 30 bymeans of suitable screws 36.;

These L-shaped brackets 32 and 35 in association with the screw 34 forma better stop than the proximate ends of the members 20 and 30 wouldprovide, and in addition, they provide means for adjusting theangularity of the por-- tion 30 with relation to the portion 20. Ifdesired, the screw 34 can be turned in one direction to raise theportion 3!! upwardly to, say, the first dotted line position in Figure2, closest to the horizontal position, and when not in use and forpurposes of allowing the students to pass freely between the rows ofopera seats, the portion 30 can be moved up past dead center to thehighest raised dotted line position shown in Figure 2.

It is thus seen that I have provided an arm or support attachable to anarm of an opera chair which will support writing pads, books, and thelike, and which can be quickly attached to the chair and quicklydetached therefrom in case it'- is not desired to be used, and which canhave its forward portion folded upwardly, if desired, to permit ingressto and egress from the opera chairs, and which can also be adjusted tosuit the individual desires of the occupant as to angularity of theforward portion.

In the drawings and specifications, there has been-setvforth' apreferred embodiment of the invention and although specific terms areemployed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only,'and notfor purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined inthe claims.

I claim: 1. A- detachable book support adapted to be supported by thearmofan opera chair, comprising a planar member, having a bracket at itsrear endprovided with a plurality of projections adapted to fit aroundthe rear end of the'arm of theopera chair and against its two sides andthe lower surface thereof, and having an inverted U- shaped membersecured to its lower side in spaced relation to the. bracket on the rearend thereof and adapted to clampingly engage the opposed sidesof the armof anopera chair and to rest on said arm.

2; A detachable support adapted to be supported by the arm of an operachair, comprising a planar member, having a bracket at its rearv endprovided with a plurality of projectionsadapted to fit around the rearends of the arm of the opera chair and against its two sides and thelower surface thereof, and'having an inverted U- shaped member securedto its lower side in spaced relation to: the bracket on the rear endthereof and adapted to clampingly engage the opposed sidesofi the arm ofan opera chair and to rest on said arm, the forward portion of saiddetachable planar member being, separated from the portion resting'onthe arm of the opera chair, and beinghinged thereto so that the forwardportion can be folded upwardly out of the way when ingress and egressarev desired to the opera chairs.

3. A detachable book support adapted to be removably attached to the armof an opera chair, comprising means on the rear end of the book supportfor engaging the rear end and the two sides and bottom of the rear endof an opera chair, and means on the lower side of the support adapted toclampingly engage opposed sides of the opera chair arm for holding thesupport in position relative to the opera chair arm.

4-. A detachable book support adapted to be removably attached to thearm of an opera chair, comprising a bracket onth'e rear end of the booksupport having a pluralityof prongs for engaging the rear end, and thetwo sides and bottom of the rear portion of the arm, and means on thelower side of the support adapted to clampingly engage opposed sides ofthe opera chair arm while holdingthe support in position relative to theopera chair arm, the forward portion of said support beingseparated fromthe rearward portion and having hinges connecting the two portions ofthe support together, whereby the forward portion can be pivotedupwardly out of the way of ingress. and egress to. the opera chairs whendesired.

5. A detachable book support adapted to be removably attached to the armof an opera chair,

comprising means on. the rear end of the book support for'eng'aging therear endpthe two. sides and the bottom surface of the arm, and means onthe lower side of the support adapted to clampingly engage opposed sidesof the opera chair arm for holding the support on top of the opera chairarm, the forward portion of support arm being separated from therearward portion and having, hinges connecting the two portions of thesupport together, whereby the forward portion can be pivoted upwardlyout of the way of ingress and egress to the opera chairs when desired;the lower surfaces of. the two portions of said support having each abracket secured thereto and a bolt threadably mounted. in one of thebrackets and. engaging the face of. the other bracket for adjusting theangularity of the for.- ward portion of the support relative. to therearwardportion, which rests on the arm of the opera J chair. r, WILLIAMT. CLAWS'ON.

REFERENCES CITED The fol-lowing references are of record in the file orthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 80,991 Neuhaus Aug. 11, 1868171,528 Musser up; Dec. 28, 1875 184,488 Williston Nov. 21, 187-62,177,297 I Brazell Oct. 24, 1939

